In the sun-drenched cafés along the boulevards of Cannes, it was hard to enjoy
a quiet glass of rosé this week without overhearing intense negotiations
between property millionaires.

Thousands of developers, investors, brokers and bankers descended on the Côte
d’Azur for the property industry’s annual MIPIM conference — and, to judge
by their lavish consumption, times are good.

“I had one of the top New York real estate brokers staying in the hotel and
she says she has had one of the best years she has ever had,” said Richard
Schilling, general manager of the Hotel Martinez, where a suite costs